Kwiatkoski is practicing, but other key players aren’t
Nick Kwiatkoski returned to practice. The Raiders didn’t do much Wednesday in preparation for their Week 4 game against the Buffalo Bills at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, but the first acquisition during free agency was back on the field at middle linebacker for the first time since a pectoral injury sustained in the opener after 22 snaps against Carolina.
“I can’t really give you any breaking news other than Kwiatkoski returned to practice,” coach Jon Gruden said during his teleconference. “We didn’t do a lot physically, but he was back on the field.”
The bad news is that six players, including the rookie trio of cornerback Damon Arnette (thumb) and wide receivers Bryan Edwards (foot/ankle) and Henry Ruggs ( knee/ hamstring) weren’t up for a light practice. Also not practicing was tackle Trent Brown (calf), wide receiver Rico Gafford ( hamstring) and defensive tackle Daniel Ross (foot).
Aside from Kwiatkoski, players who were limited at practice were safety Johnathan Abram (shoulder/thumb), linebacker Cory Littleton (knee) and offensive tackle Sam Young (groin).
The walking and limping wounded is a problem, but quarterback Derek Carr doesn’t plan on agonizing over who will and won’t play.
“It doesn’t really matter, right,” Carr said. “Nobody cares about the injuries. They just see the loss. We’ve just got to play.”
Carr is convinced Gruden will have a plan regardless of who’s on the field. The depleted corps of receivers will get con
siderable work from Nelson Agholor and Zay Jones and could end up calling up someone from the practice squad, which includes Keelan Doss, Robert Davis and De’Mornay Pierson-El, who returned to the team Wednesday.
MARIOTA RETURNS >> Quarterback Marcus Mariota returned to practice starting a 21day clock on his return to the 53-man roster. If Mariota isn’t back within that time period, then he must go on injured reserve for the rest of the season.
Mariota was lost to a pectoral injury near the end of training camp. Mariota currently has a roster exemption. Quarterback DeShone Kiser, who has been the scout team quarteraback with Nathan Peterman as the backup, was released from the practice squad.
OPENING ALLEGIANT >> Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak has approved gatherings of up to 10 percent at Allegiant Stadium for UNLV football. There are no indications the Raiders will follow suit. Owner Mark Davis said early on the Raiders would go without fans rather than have to pick and choose which season ticket-holders get in while others are left out.